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Hurricane Francine Makes Landfall In Louisiana As A Category 2 Storm, Threatening Flooding in Mississippi

MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Hurricane Francine struck Louisiana on Wednesday evening as a Category 2 storm that forecasters warned could bring deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern U.S. Gulf Coast.

Francine made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City, the National Hurricane Center announced at 4 p.m. CDT. Packing maximum sustained winds near 100 mph (155 kph), the hurricane crashed into a fragile coastal region that hasn’t fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.

In Morgan City, gas stations had put plywood on the windows and moved trash cans inside, with a few pumps still serving the trickle of cars passing through shortly after dawn.

Retired boat captain Pat Simon, 75, and his wife, Ruth, loaded all their possessions in garbage bags and tied them down in the back of a rented U-Haul pickup truck as they evacuated their home near the banks of the Atchafalaya River near Morgan City.

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“I don’t think it’s going to be that bad, like some of the other ones like Ida and Katrina,” Pat Simon said. “I mean, we’ve had some bad ones.”

Francine drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, strengthening from a Category 1 to a Category 2 storm, with winds of 96 to 110 mph (155 to 175 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged residents to “stay off the roads, stay home and stay put.” He said the National Guard was being sent to parishes that could be impacted by Francine. They have with food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to respond to the storm, including for possible search-and-rescue operations.

As winds started to significantly increase on the Louisiana coast, some 17,000 power outages were reported by late Wednesday afternoon, according to online tracking map poweroutage.us.

Since the mid-19th century 57 hurricanes have tracked over or made landfall in Louisiana, according to The Weather

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